Incubate Festival

Tilburg’s annual celebration of cutting-edge indie culture has built an international reputation for its rich and adventurous lineup as well as its incomparably intimate atmosphere. Besides Subbacultcha! favorites such as Psychic Ills, Amen Dunes, Pete Swanson, Night Beats and Sean Nicholas Savage, this year’s highlights also include:

 

Built to Spill

Perhaps the greatest thing to sprout from the soils of Idaho since the potato, this indie rock institution put out some of the ‘90s’ most beloved jams, and 2009’s There is No Enemy marked a return to form.

 

Shonen Knife

Over the last 30 years, this Ramones-channeling all girl pop-punk band from Osaka has built a worldwide cult following and count Sonic Youth and Kurt Cobain among their biggest fans.

 

Willis Earl Beal

This Chicago outsider has come a long way since his days of busking and homelessness, but his ramshackle blues-folk and soulful croon remain haunted by a sense of alienation that’s hard to imagine but easy to enjoy.

 

Still Corners

This movie-loving London band recasts ‘60s pop, shoegaze, and ‘80s synth pop signifiers to produce dream pop that’s cinematic and unfailingly beautiful.

 

Wolf Eyes

After 17 years and over 100 releases, these Detroit industrial noise veterans continue to churn out music suited for soundtracking drug-fueled nightmares, most recently on the brutal yet minimal No Answers: Lower Floors.

 

Tim Hecker

This Montreal-based experimental musician’s blown-out digital shoegaze is among the most instantly recognisable and distinctive ambient/drone music being released today.

 

Pete Swanson

Relentless noisemaker and former Yellow Swans member Pete Swanson’s deformed warehouse techno sound has become progressively more corroded-sounding, more menacing and more authoritative.

 

Moon King

Doldrums and Grimes collaborator Daniel Woodhead is set to make his own mark with Moon King, a catchy noise pop project that calls to mind Still Corners or a shoegaze version of Cults.

 

Night Beats

These 21st-century psych rockers tip their hats to Texas psych legends such as 13th Floor Elevators, with guitar work more blazing than the desert sun and a rhythm section that’s not to be messed with.

 

Hooded Fang

For a band formed by friends with no musical training, it’s impressive how quickly these young Torontonians have  figured out how to craft lo-fi garage pop that’s varied, hooky, and emotionally satisfying.

 

Fenster

This Berlin-by-way-of-New York deconstructed pop trio’s sparse instrumentation and boy/girl call and response vocals have earned them comparisons to The xx.

 

Lemontrip
This Dutch producer’s atmospheric blend of post-dubstep vibes and hip hop beats should appeal to fans of kindred spirits like Balam Acab and Nosaj Thing.

 

Shannon and the Clams

Catchy, bratty, and just a little bit goofy, this Oakland trio serves up lo-fi garage pop a la Hunx and His Punx (to whom the titular Shannon memorably contributed vocals on “The Curse of Being Young”).

 

WIFE

While best known as the frontman of black metal band Altar of Plagues, James Kelly indulges his somewhat softer side by making chilly but lush post-dubstep as WIFE.

 

Ed Schrader’s Music Beat

Ed Schrader is a productive member of the same Baltimore music scene as Future Islands and Dan Deacon for whom “music beat” means post-punk stripped down to its barest essentials.

 

Smith Westerns

Being tossed from the frying pan of high school into the fire of blogosphere hype could burn many bands out, but on their new third album, these still-precocious Chicago glam rockers sound chiller than ever.

 

Incubate’s weeklong musical exploration in Tilburg starts on 16 September and runs until the 22nd. For more information on the festival and it’s staggering lineup, visit Incubate.org.